Rain fails to deter island’s art lovers

The Putahi Ono Kuki Airani art exhibition opened at the Bergman Gallery on Tuesday night.

The wide-ranging and colourful exhibition includes works from all of the artists currently taking part in a two-week art exchange here in Rarotonga.

Artists contributing to the show are from Pacific countries including Hawaii, New Caledonia, Tonga, the Cook Islands, New Zealand and Tahiti.

Project manager Shane Andrew described the opening night as a success, in spite of the bad weather.

“The broadness (represented by) the collected group was well received by the public.”

Andrew said the number of people attending the event was slightly lower than expected, due to the torrential rain that poured down an hour before the event was due to begin.

“Those who came really enjoyed themselves but we were probably a bit down on numbers.”

The works now on display were brought to Rarotonga by the artists and will be on show until Wednesday next week. A closing exhibition featuring work completed by the artists during their visit will be held on Friday, May 25.

The exhibition featured three guest speakers: local artist Stormy Kara, National Museum director Justina Nicholas and Putahi Ono founder, and senior lecturer at the University of Waikato, Don Ratana.